Hoops to Jump Through

Whose idea was it for C++ classes that have virtual functions to not automatically have a virtual destructor? There is just no reason for this not to be the case. Not having a virtual destructor is just not going to ever do that right thing when you’re dealing with a polymorphic class. Most of the time it’s probably going to be a silent problem that you’re dealing with. My last encounter with this wonderful bit of the C++ obstacle course resulted in a not insignificant memory leak when I failed to jump through the hoop. I have yet to see a case where it would make sense for a polymorphic class to not a virtual destructor. Sometimes I really do think that C++ is just some colossal joke that Stroustrup is playing on us.